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An academic model
Paul Glinkowski profiles the work of Paul Bonaventura, co-founder of The Laboratory, the research wing of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at the University of Oxford, in the fifth article of the ’Crossing over’ series.
Academic enquiry and hands-on support for artists are consistent twin threads in the work of Paul Bonaventura, Senior Research Fellow in Fine Art Studies at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. Bonaventura's work with artists began with an Arts Council of Great Britain (now Arts Council England) curatorial traineeship at MOMA Oxford in the mid 1980s. He was briefly an editor at Macmillan's Dictionary of Art before returning to the coalface of creativity in 1987 as Senior Exhibitions Coordinator at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. Six years at this flagship east end of London venue proved especially formative. Here he engaged with a wide spectrum of twentieth century art: from high period modernism to the newest kids on the block. Major retrospectives of key figures in the modern movement, Juan Gris, Arshile Gorky and Joan Miro, alternated with important mid-career shows by artists such as Tim Head and Sean Scully. Of particular significance in this period was Bonaventura's engagement with the artists' community of the east end of London. Five years' work on the Whitechapel Open and East End Open studios events gave insight into the needs and practices of a wide range of working...
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